Greetings!  Happy Mother's Day!  Today we celebrated our first.  It was an average day that had me feeling loved, appreciated and special from beginning to end.  My only wish is that I would have been able to spend it with my mom.  Celebrating her first as a Grandma.

The Lil' Spark is growing like a weed.  He has been in a hurry since birth.  Walking at 9 months and now he's in a full run.  He is so precocious. Curious, smart and so very, very sweet.  He's fond of tomatoes, watermelon and salmon.  Loves to wave buh bye and hi.  And adores giving big wet raspberries on unsuspecting (well, maybe a little suspecting) mama and grandma's. 

It's so hard to believe that he'll turn a year old soon.  Too soon.  My parents will be coming out to celebrate with us and we couldn't be happier.  It's so wonderful to be closer to family.  Then Lil' Spark and I will be packing up and heading north for a few weeks to celebrate my grandparents 65th anniversary.  Much fun to be had with Grandpa and the wee one.  I have a feeling there will be muddy toes, muddy fingers, muddy faces and many muddy clothes.  Sounds like fun!

There's so much to look forward to in the coming years.  Hopefully that will mean many laughs, a few tears, I'm guessing quite a few stitches, lots of band aids, and tons of kisses and hugs.  And hopefully, a sibling or two for the itty bitty. 

Happy Mother's Day, All!!!

Howdy Ya'll!

Howdy!

Greetings from the panhandle of Texas.  I'm not going to lie.  Texas is a LOT different than Alaska.  It's dry.  Brown.  Warm.  FLAT.  And while those things may seem like negatives, I have to say, that I'm finding that I like being able to see into the distance for miles.  I LOVE wearing flip flops in January, though we did get a spot of snow last night, and I find myself wondering what it will be like in "winter".  Um, it's January...

The people of Texas are nice.  Like, really nice.  We've already been invited out for dinner twice.  We're planning to attend a Valentine's dinner in a couple weeks, we have a babysitter, and I feel at home here.  Odd, seeing as we've only been here for a couple weeks. 

I'm not going to say we're settled.  Far from, but moving in that general direction. Sparky is working hard at his new job and the Sparkle and I enjoy our days walking in the stroller, playing silly games and driving to where ever we'll meet Sparky for the night. 

It's good to be closer to family.  Hoping we get a lot of visitors in the near future. 

I'm fixin' to pack up and meet the hubby.

Later Ya'll!

Moving On

It's true.  The time has come.  When I named the blog, I chose a name that was reflective of our current adventure and the possibility of new ones somewhere down the line.  We knew, or suspected, when we moved here that it would (likely) not be our permanent home.  

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here.  We have lived, breathed, enjoyed Alaska for 4 years.  The New Year will bring many changes to our lives.  A new climate, new friends, new challenges, new loves, new malls, new activities.  We are excited for the "new"s that will soon be coming our way.  

In our excitement we don't want to lose our love and enthusiasm for a place we've called home.  A place, and person, that gave us our most treasured blessing, Our Little Elf.  New doesn't come without hurt, disappointment and loss.
The decision to move south, WAY south, was not easy, though the opportunity it presents for all of us was undoubtedly the right decision, at the right time.  So moving on we must do.  

We'll be back.  To show Our Little Elf where he was born, where we brought him home to, and where we discovered the greatest joy in life.  We hope he'll visit with his birth family.  Know them, love them.  And while it will be different, we've spent years away from our family and still remained in touch.  We love them, and are so grateful to have them in our lives.  And Our Little Elf's.  They're family, after all.

So, for now, I bid adieu.  Time to dust off my boots, pick up my hat, and see if Texas brings us another little cowboy...or girl. 

Merry Christmas!!!

Too Busy to Blog

Greetings from beautiful Alaska!  We are enjoying an abnormally warm fall.  Summer was a bit disappointing weather wise, but fall left us happy and fulfilled.  We had our first sprinkling of snow on the last day of September, but with the snow now melted, it's back to fall again.

This is my pumpkin.  And the reason for my hiatus.  He arrived on May 31, surprising us all.  G&G Lucy from Minnesota were planning to be here when he arrived, but came a week later as scheduled.  He arrived at 11:12 p.m. and we arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later.  I got to see him just before midnight and tears of joy fell.  He was perfect.  7 lbs 12 oz of pure bliss.  His birth family came in droves to welcome him to the world.  Grandma, aunties, uncles, brother and cousin.  He is a very loved little man.

He's a sweet pea.  He has a the sweetest smile, a quick temper, loves music and his momma.  Daddy hangs the moon.  Cash adores him, constantly being told to "stop licking the baby"!  Ches loves to hover close, to keep track of the wiggle worm. I knew that parenthood would rock, but I had no idea that it would be THIS AWESOME.  He was so worth the wait.

We have submitted our final legal documents and we're just waiting for word that we can finalize and we'll be a forever family soon!  

We had a wonderful summer with the arrival and departure of both sets of grandparents.  You've seen that face, who could stay away?  And my younger brother came to visit as well.  He's Pumpkin's godfather and was here for Pumpkin's baptism.

This is the sunset we were treated to tonight.  The skies of Alaska rarely disappoint.  Between the clouds, the sunrises/sunsets and the auroras, it's a riot of color year round.  I snuck out while Daddy was feeding Pumpkin Pie some pears and rice cereal, to capture the glorious glow.  No editing was done to this photo.  It's exactly as it appears.

With Cash's arrival 2.5 years ago we've seen less moose in the yard.  In the winter we see them more often as they camp out in the hayfields in front of the house.  Yesterday we were quiet and restful, enjoying a quiet day.  I went to the kitchen to make a bottle for the wee one and caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  What a surprise!  This beauty hung out in the break about 20-30 feet from the house for about 30 minutes.  She was alert but very at ease.  She looks pretty and healthy.  Hopefully she'll stick around to give us some babies next spring.

When Daddy came home from work he was greeted by a younger 30" bull at the top of the driveway.  It's rut time in Alaska and this young gun was proud to show off for B.  He thrashed at the willows and thought perhaps he could reign victorious over the Silverado. Luckily B didn't give him a chance and sped up and out of his way.

Unfortunately this means that despite today's 60 degree temps Pumpkin, Cash, Ches and I couldn't wander the fields/woods as we wished.  We stayed in.  Away from hormonal moose just looking for a good time.

Happy Autumn!  

Another Chapterr

Today is the end of one chapter, the beginning of another.  Summer is coming, we've had a few warmer days, some droplets of rain, and some cool nights.  The light is back in spades, and it's still a shock in our fourth summer to have light at 11 p.m.

When I walked out of work at 16:30 today it was (hopefully) the last time I'll be leaving the building in a working capacity.  I have enjoyed my job, but in 15 days my new job will arrive in the form of a bouncing, baby boy.  In the meantime I have stuff to do.  Big stuff.  Sewing projects, walks with the dogs, some laundry, cleaning cabinets, and I'm pretty sure I can find something else to put a coat of paint on.  


Little Man's room is nearly done.  We're looking forward to sharing our Alaskan summer with a new bambino.  An Alaska Grown bambino.  


With Memorial Weekend upon us we're hoping to sneak in some fishing, a little ATV riding and hopefully some picture taking.  We're staying close to home, just in case Baby Boy decides to make an early appearance.  We've been told that BM (birthmom) has been having some contractions but whether or not they turn into something productive remains to be seen.  Since tomorrow was at once his birthday, I'm secretly hoping he makes his debut.

Hoping you all have a happy, safe, memorable Memorial Day.  


Happy Summer!

Nesting

We haven't been doing much outdoors.  Unless of course you count washing windows, cleaning up dog toys, and removing dead flowers of yester summer.


Our focus has been on the indoors.  Painting, cleaning, purging and selling things.  Making room for a bouncing bundle of baby boy. :) 


We're ecstatic and we're looking forward to a fantastic summer!!

Happy Spring!

Welcome to Spring 2012!


I'm hoping that March 21st isn't like Ground Hogs' Day.  I'd like to think that only better things can come your way when you start your "spring" with -1 and snow.  Eventually we did get a spot of sunshine and I think we managed to make it to 6 above.  Beggars can't be choosers, so I'm going to be happy with that.


This weekend we decided to take advantage of our sick free household.  We packed up and hit the snowy trail to one of our favorite stomping grounds.  Since it was mostly the same old scenery, and wildlife was hiding somewhere away from our prying eyes, the camera didn't get much of a work out.  But drive we did.  Brent took the furbabes on a bit of walk.  But since Ches has a penchant for buffalo chips, and they were oh-so-fresh, he had to cut that short.  


The wildlife was sparse, we spotted far away moose and few jumpy grouse.  But that's about it.  Luckily the snow is still a pristine white, but I know the muddy, mucky, icky days of break up are coming.  Can't we just fast forward to summer?!?!


In order to break up the long winter days a friend of mine started a facebook page and a blog about her healthy lifestyle.  It's great to see her so passionate about life and all things healthy.  To get us all motivated and inspired she started a Vegetarian Vednesday.  Our entire day is to be made up of vegetarian meals and snacks.  Each week she mixes it up with a "twist".  Tomorrow's twist is one meal or snack must be raw.  Entirely raw.  I'm going with a snack.  Ha!


So, if you're interested in healthier eating, and all things vegetarian-leaning-towards-vegan go here: http://ahealthierfitterme.blogspot.com/   You won't be disappointed.


I'm hoping that your first day of Spring brought you warmer weather and much more hopeful outlook for the following days!  


Welcome Spring!! Hurry up Summer!!!